Time-stamp



s AGRANAT.

TIME STAMP.

ARPLICATION FILED 'MAY 15, 1919.

1,320,355. Patented Oct. 28, 1919.

RECEIVED ATTYKSX FFICE.

SIMON AGRANAT, or CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS;

TIME-STAMP.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct 28, 1919.

Application filed May 15, 1919. Serial No. 297,233.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SIMON AenANAT, a citizen of the United States, residin at Chelsea, in the county of Suffolk and tate of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Time-Stamps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a stamp'ad'apted to print an impression indicating the time when the impression was printed. A stamp of this character in common use includes a time piece, Such as a watch, having printing means projecting from its back and including a printing member coaxial with the hour hand, and adapted to be rotated therewith, and another printing member adapted to be revolved about the axis of the hour hand and having the same rate of movement as the minute hand. The two members, which are usually of rubber, cooperate with a printing pad of the Same material, said members and the printing pad being flush with each other, so that they are adapted to be pressed simultaneously against an inking pad to receive ink, and against a sheet of paper to print an impression which indicates the time when it was made. Heretofore the time piece and printing pad have been carried by a holder which is merely a body having a handle, the whole constituting a hand stamp which is grasped by the operator and pressed alternately against an inking pad and a sheet of paper. In thus operating the stamp the operator is liable to injure delicate parts of the time piece by too energetic manipulation both in inking and in printing. Moreover, the operator is' quite likely to lay the stamp down with the time piece in a horizontalplane'. This position long maintained is detrimental to a watch movement, as is well known by watch makers.

My invention has for its object,'first, to prevent liability of leaving the time piece in a horizontal position when the stamp is not in use, and secondly, to minimize liabil ity of injury to the time movement by rough handling.

. To these and other related ends the invention consists in the improvements which I will now proceed to describeand claim.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,-

Figure 1 is an end elevation of a time stam embodying my invention.

Suitable way an inking pad 15,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

F 1g. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, the time piece being Shown in elevation.

F g. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

F 1g. 5 1s a perspective view of the case, the time piece being removed.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective View showing a portion of the inner section of the case. i i

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view showing the outer ends or printing faces of the printmg members controlled by the time piece.

1g; 8 represents a typical impression printed by the stamp.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the figures. i

The stamp includes a Supporting structure, preferably composed of a base 12, and two standards 13 fixed to the base and perpendicular thereto. The base is provided with an impression bed 14 whichis preferably of sheet rubber. lVith the standards 13 is engaged in any which is perpendicular to the bed 14c.

17 represents the exterior of a time piece, such as a watch, of any suitable construction, the watch being adapted as usual for use in a time stamp by a printingmember 18,-attaehed to an arbor 19 rotated by the watchmechanism, and a printing member 20 attached to an annular disk 21 surrounding the arbor 19, and also rotated by the watch mechanism, the member 18 rotating with the hour hand, and the member 20 revolving about the member 18 and moving with the minute hand. The, said printing members, which are preferably of rubber, project from the back of the watch as shown by Fig. 3, and constitute a well known time-indicating printing means adapted to cooperate with a printing pad 23 in printing an impression, such as that shown in Fig. 8.

The. time piece is removably inserted in a movable case, which constitutes a carrier for the printing pad 23, and for the print ing members 18 and 20, and is adapted to press said pad and members either against the inking pad 15, or against a sheet of paper on the impression bed 14:.

The case is preferably composed of an inner section 24:, and an outer section 30, slidable on the inner section. The inner section 24 has 'a flat back in which is an opening 26, through which the printing members 1S and 20 project, the printing pad 23 being cemented, or otherwise secured to said back, and preferably provided with an opening 27 registering with the case back opening 26. The outer section 30 has a larger opening 31, through which the dial of the time piece is visible, and screw holes receiving screws 32 engaging tapped sockets 34: in the section 24, the screws when turned inward drawing the sections together and causing them to bear on opposite sides of the time piece. Each section has a seat for one side of the time piece, as indicated by Fig. 3, one seat bearing on the inner side, and the other seat on the outer side of the time piece. The means, embodied in the screw holes 3 k and the screws 32, for adjustably connecting the sections, enable said seats to positively clamp the time piece. Provision is thus made for holding time pieces of different thicknesses, and for adjusting the inner sections to cause the printing pad 23 to bear evenly on the inking pad and on the impression bed. The sections 2 1 and 30 are provided with coinciding slots 36 and 87, through which the time piece stem 38 passes. The means whereby the case is adapted to press the printing pad and printing members alternately against the inking pad and paper on the impression bed, is preferably embodied in the connections next described, between the case and the supporting structure.

To opposite ends of the outer case section 30 are attached oppositely projecting alined trunnions 40 (Fig. 5). The standards 18 are provided with alined studs 41, on which are pivoted two levers L2, which are connected at their outer ends by a cross-bar or handle 43. The case trunnions 40 are journaled in bearings in the levers 42, between the pivoted and swinging ends of the levers.

To the front case section 30 is fixed an arm 4 L having a slot or groove 15. Mounted on a fixed arm i6 on one of the standards 13, is a stud 4:7 which nters the slot in the case arm 1 1. The arrangement of the above-described part-s constituting said connections i such that when the levers 42- are raised to the full line position shown by Fig. 2, the case and the time piece are held in a vertical plane, and the printing pad and the time-indicating printing members of the time piece are pressed against the inking pad. When the levers are swung forward and downward to the dotted line position shown by Fig. 2, the case and time piece are caused to turn on the axis formed by the trunnions 40 and their bearings in the levers, the case and time piece being given a quarter of a full rotation, and the printing pad and the time-indicating printing members are pressed against paper previously deposited on the impression bed 14:.

It will now be seen that the time piece is moved in a predetermined path to the inking and printing positions, and is arrested in said positions without injurious shocks or ars, so that the pivots and other delicate parts of the time piece are not liable to injury. It will also be seen that when the stamp is not in use, the time piece stands at one end of its path of movement, with its dial in a substantially vertical plane, a position which is recognized by watch makers as the most advantageous. After an impression has been printed, the operator in removing the printing pad from the paper on the impression bed, naturally moves the case and time piece to the vertical position shown by full lines in Fig. 2, the inking pad acting as a stop to arrest the case and the printing pad carried thereby with the dial. of the time piece in a substantially vertical plane, the time piece remaining in this position until the stamp is again operated. The operator cannot, therefore, carelessly leave the time piece with its dial in a substantially horizontal plane, a. position which is well known to be detrimental.

The printing pad a3, and the impression bed 1% constitute yielding buffers which cushion the time piece when it reaches each extreme of its movement. Said pad and bed are preferably composed of rubber having air cells, the cells of the pad 23 being shown at 49 in Fig. 3. This cellular structure increases the cushioning effect, as will be readily seen. The stud 17 is preferably movable endwise in the arm 16, so that it may be withdrawn from the slotted arm it as a part of the operation. of removing the case from the supporting structure, the stud being slidable in a socket 50 attached by a set screw 51 (Fig. 1) to the arm d6. A spring 52 (Fig. l), yieldingly holds the stud in engagement with the slotted arm A, and a handle piece or disk 53 on the outer end of the stud enables the stud to be retracted.

The tapped sockets 34L are located at the corners of the inner case section 2 and the screws 32, correspondingly located on the outer case section 30, enable the inner case section and the printing pad to be adjusted as may be required, to secure parallelism of the p inting pad with the inking pad and with the impression bed.

The printing pad 23 and the time-indicating printing members 18 and 20 may be adapted to print an impression such as that shown by Fig. 8, the characters 18" and 20 being printed by the members 18 and 20, and the other characters by the pad 23, the latter being provided with removable members adapted to print the word Received and the date.

The base 12 may be provided with a drawer 12 to receive the movable type mem here.

The dial 17 of the time piece is exposed to view through the case opening 81, when the case and time piece are at each extreme of their movement.

The described provision for disengaging the stud 47 from the slotted arm 44, enables the case and the printing pad to be turned to a convenient position for the insertion and removal of the movable type members.v

in a substantially horizontal plane, and an inking pad fixed to said structure with its acting face perpendicular to the impression bed, a case adapted to hold the time piece and expose the printing means and dial thereof, printing means, carried by the case, and connections between the case and the supporting structure organized to move the case in a predetermined path, the arrangement being such that when the case is at one end of its path of movement, the printing means of the time piece and case are presented to paper on the impression bed, and When the case is at the opposite end ofsaid path, said printing means are arrested. by the inking pad, with the time piece dial in a substantially vertical plane. a

2. A time stamp embodying the combination specified by claim 1, the case being composed of an inner section carrying a printing pad, and having a seat for one side of the time piece, and an outer section having a seat for the opposite side of the time piece and a dial-exposing opening, means being provided for adjustably connecting said sections and positively clamping the time piece between said seats. a

3. A time stamp embodying the combina tion specified by claim 1, the case being composed of an inner section carrying the printing pad, having a seat for one side of the time piece, and provided with tapped sockets, and an outer section slidable on the inner section, having a seat for the opposite side of the time piece and provided with a dial-exposing opening and with screws engaged with said sockets to adjustably connect the sections and positively clamp the time piece between said seats.

4:. A time stamp embodying the combination specified by claim 1, the case being composed of an inner section carrying a print ing pad, and having a seat for one side of the time piece, and an outer section having a seat for the opposite side of the time piece and a dial-exposing opening, means being provided for adjustably connecting said sections and positively clamping the time piece between said seats, the said connections comprising a pair of connected levers fulcrumed on the supporting structure, trunnions on the outer section of the case journaled in said levers, a slotted arm attached to the outer section of the case, and a coupling stud on the supporting structure engaging said arm, the inner section of the case being movable independentlyby the section-connecting means to positively clamp the time piece between said seats, and cause the printing means of the time piece and case to bear evenly on the inking pad and on the impression bed. a

5. A time stamp embodying the combination specified by claim 1, the case being composed of an inner section carrying a printing pad, and having a seat for one side of the time piece, and an outer section having a seat for the opposite side of the time piece and a dial-exposing opening, means being provided for adjustably connecting said sections and positively clamping the time piece between said seats, the said connections comprising a pair of connected levers fulcrumed on the supporting structure, trunnions on the outer section of the case journaled in said levers, a slotted arm attached to the outer section of the case, and

a coupling stud on the supporting structure engaging said arm, said stud being yieldingly held in its operative position and displaceable to disengage it from the arm, and permit the removal of the case from the supporting structure, and the turning of the case to a convenient position for access to the printing means of the time piece.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

SIMON AGRANAT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, 1). G. i 

